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The Lesson Planning Mommy – “I Speak for the Trees”

September 17, 2012

This week is very exciting for my son and I, as we both love the Lorax! We could not wait for it to come to the BIG screen, and were just as excited for its DVD release as well! To celebrate, we enjoyed these related fun activities and snacks. We hope you do too!

What was the land of the Lorax like before the Once-ler arrived? Did it seem like someplace you’d like to live?

What kind of person is the Once-ler? Why won’t he listen to the Lorax? The Lorax says to the Once-ler, “You are crazy with greed.” Why does the Lorax say that? Do you agree or disagree?

Why does the Lorax speak for the trees?

How does the Once-ler’s Thneed business hurt the land of the Lorax? What happens to the Swomee-swans, the Brown Bar-ba-loots, and the Humming-fish? How could things have been different if the Once-ler listened to the Lorax?

What do you think the boy hearing the story will do with the Truffula seed that the Once-ler tosses to him? What would you do if you were the boy?

Do you think the Lorax and his friends will come back if new Truffula Trees grow? Where do you think they have been?

The Once-ler says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” What does the Once-ler mean? Can one person make a difference? Can you? What are some things you can do to better your own environment?

How does the Once-ler feel about what his Thneed business did to the Lorax and friends?

Draw the face of The Lorax to attach to the strip that wraps around the pot

Add some foam eyes, a pompom nose, and a tongue to complete the face

Cut out long strips of yellow paper for the trunks of the Truffula trees

Draw black stripes on the tree trunks and attach them to the wrapper (we made some straight and some curved since they are shown that way in the movie)

Wrap the paper around the pot and attach some brightly colored pompoms to make the tops of the Truffula trees (you may need to attach another piece of card stock to the trees to hold the pompoms up)

Help the kids plant anything they like in the pot and watch it grow!*If you don’t wish to make a garden pot wrapper, you can also let the kids where it as a crown! My boys got a kick out of that as well.

Roll A Dice games are great for preschool and elementary-aged children. Each number on the dice represents a specific body part. When the child rolls the dice, they count out which number it is, and match the number on the dice with the body part from the game sheet. The child will then place that specific body part on the Lorax’s body and end their turn. If the child rolls a number that corresponds to a body part that has already been added, they pass their turn. The winner is the child to place the last body part of the Lorax, or to complete their Lorax first. This game is great for practicing counting, number recognition, and of course taking turns! While you may choose to make one Lorax for each child playing, it is not necessary.

What You Need:

2 x 3 foot foam board

1 yard of grey felt

2 pieces of 8.5 x 11 inch orange felt

1 piece each of 8.5 x 11 inch green, yellow, white, and black felt

Hot glue and gun

Felt glue (optional)

Scissors

Straight pins or disappearing ink pen

Permanent marker

The Lorax body and body pieces templates (see below)

Game template (see below)

One dice

For this project, you will need various colors of 8.5 x 11 inch felt pieces, which can be purchased from the craft section of most fabric or hobby stores. You will also need a larger 1-yard piece of felt that you will need to cut from the bolt. You can find bolts of felt at Joann’s Fabrics, or similar fabric stores.

To make the felt board that the game pieces will stick to, you will need a 2 x 3 foot piece of foam board (I bought mine at the dollar store). Lay the foam board over top of the 1-yard piece of felt and cut so that you have about 2 inches of felt on all sides of the board. Cut a square piece of felt 2 x 2 inches from each of the four corners.

Working with one side of foam board at a time, hot glue the felt to the backside of the board about 1.5 inches from the edge. When you get to a corner, fold the felt over into a triangular shape, place hot glue near the corner, and fold into place. This will create nice, mitered edges.

Next, print out the Body Pieces Template and the Body Template by clicking on the images above and printing.

Once you have cut out your template pieces, pin or trace the template pieces onto the different colors of 8.5 x11 inch felt, and cut out with a pair of sharp scissors.

Here is a list for the corresponding felt color and template pieces:

orange = body, nose, two arms, two legs

yellow = eyebrows, mustache

white = two eyes

green = two eye colors

black = two eye pupils (or can just use a permanent marker!)

After the body pieces are cut out, assemble the eye pieces by hot gluing the green onto the white and then drawing a pupil with permanent marker. I used the marker to also make the nostrils of the Lorax’s nose!

All of the felt pieces should stick nicely to the felt covered foam board, which works as a wonderful display when playing with multiple children! When you are done playing the game, just place all the pieces and the Game sheet in a Ziploc bag for later.

I came across the Free App for the Lorax movie this past week. My 5-year-old son loves it. The app works by mimicking the sounds of your voice. By holding up the device sideways, the mouth and mustache on the screen will move as you talk. It is pretty silly and always makes my son laugh. This is fun to use while reading the book, or just to talk to each other and pretend you’re the Lorax.

Another great app is The Lorax Garden – a game app for kids created by Oceanhouse Media. This game is only 99 cents and is another great one to play while you explore the story. We also love playing The Lorax Truffula Shuffula!